Karen had enjoyed a rather calm afternoon, which got over the excitement of learning Peter's role in Moon Lake's werelion society and all the potential jealousy issues that could spring up because he had chosen... or maybe because he had accepted her. That Peter was the potential "heir to the throne" as it were in werelion society was amazing, and that did add to some of Karen's interest in him, but the interaction with Liz Brookshire hadn't been something she wanted. It made sense that someone would be jealous to the point of making threats such as those Liz made, especially with Peter's rank within werelion society added to the issue. If the Brookshire family was either rich or had high standing, the potential union with Peter Talbot would only add to their family's prestige, wealth, and/or power. And Karen's interest in Peter represented a challenge to that, and it'd be natural that Karen as an outsider would be looked down on. She'd seen enough dramas to know that even "new money" was snubbed by those who had been rich longer. Such things probably wouldn't be non-existent even among weres.
There was a bit confusion for Karen, as Peter had told her that his father and uncles all ran a sort of car restoration service. Fixing up classic cars for clients to display or use, and while they might make decent money, it was doubtful that the Talbot family was rolling in money with the job or jobs they held. About all that Liz Brookshire would really stand to gain would be the prestige of marrying the future "king" in Moon Lake's werelion society, but prestige wasn't everything. And in the end, her threat got her nothing as Peter had heard her threat and came to Karen's defense, which Karen was very grateful for. In that, Peter had demonstrated the base instincts that Karen knew with regard to lion behavior, that the males were the defenders of the pride and their interests, and in defending her, Karen felt sure that she was important to him. That eased a lot of her own personal concerns over werelion pride activities and the open nature of their marriages, as it wasn't as though she was being viewed as a potential conquest for Peter... but that she was actually important to him.
As she left her last class for the day and came out onto the college's green, a central area that looked very much like a city park, Karen stretched and gave a bit of a smile. Her interaction with Liz had been the only bad thing during the day, everything else had been rather good, and things got better as she walked along a sidewalk, she found Peter coming out from a different building. She smiled and jogged over to him. He responded as she approached, likely catching her scent, and turned to her.
"Well, hello there," Peter said with a smile, "Did you have a good afternoon?"
"Yeah, got through all my classes and no snobs giving me trouble," Karen answered, "and I ran into you after my last class... which really makes my day."
"Just seeing me makes your day?" Peter smiled.
"Yes," Karen smiled back, "Because you came to my defense... you've been friendly... you've accepted my... well... my furry fandom and all that."
Peter's smile didn't fade, "well... you have a lot of good qualities. You're a great artist, you're rather open to a lot of Moon Lake's... wereness... and surprisingly adaptable. There's also quite a lot about you that I just can't define... but I know it's good and attractive to me."
"So... to you, there's just something about Karen," Karen chuckled and hugged him.
"Yes," Peter hugged her back.
Karen felt his arms wrap around her, and a good part of her just wanted to sink into his arms, and feel their warm and protective embrace. However, that moment didn't last long, as Karen heard footsteps approaching and felt Peter move and actually break from the hug that they were in. When Karen turned, she could see why. It was Elizabeth Brookshire, fully dressed in rather high-end attire, which definitely made her look more upscale than the tee-shirt and jeans that Karen was wearing. However, unlike her first meeting with the werelioness where Liz had taken a very dominating stance, Liz presently had taken a much more submissive stance as she stood before Peter and Karen. She was standing slightly hunched and keeping her head low, at least with regard to Peter.
"Liz," Peter stated.
"Peter," Liz answered, her tone of voice a bit weaker than where it was earlier.
"Is there something you wish to say?" Peter asked, his voice stern and Karen thought it even sounded protective.
"Yes, my liege," Liz spoke again, a bit stronger but respectful, "I want to apologize for my behavior earlier..."
"Oh?" Peter asked. He had phoned his father to let him know on Liz's threat made to Karen and emphasized that it was Karen Yuletide that he loved. That would effectively leave Liz's fate and discipline to a vote from the various pride males in Moon Lake's werelion society.
"Yes... it was foolish, ill timed, and disrespectful," Liz answered, "and regardless of personal opinions... it was unbecoming of a Brookshire to take such action."
"It's unbecoming of any WERE to take such action," Peter answered, "we just went through a whole mess where a werefox went rogue, violated Statue 1A twice and nearly got a WERE Alert issued. If I recall... you described Yvette Smith's actions as those of an uncontrollable slut who couldn't take "no" for an answer."
Liz didn't respond.
"Now... is threatening the woman I love to have her choices taken away and making her a wereskunk against her will any different from Yvette Smith clawing William Anderson and then Jennifer Harper?" Peter asked.
"No, my liege," Liz answered, lowering her head, "I let jealousy get the better of me."
"Best to get that under control then," Peter answered, "because... Karen is MY choice for "queen." I choose her because she isn't looking being rich or royalty... because she is humble... adaptable... kind... a great artist. That isn't slumming or anything like that. "
"I will try," Liz spoke and then turned directly to Karen directly, "I apologize for how I behaved toward you. It was wrong..."
"Okay," Karen said slowly.
With that, Liz backed away from them with her head low and her main focus on Peter. After she'd made a few steps, she turned and began to walk away. As she did that, Karen moved back to Peter's side and put her hand on his bicep, which felt tense and even partially flexed. Like he was ready in case Liz attacked or made things more combative than she actually had been. He turned to her smiled to her again. Once she felt that Liz was out of earshot, Karen looked to Peter and said something softly.
"I'm your choice for queen?" Karen asked softly.
"For the reasons I stated," Peter said back, "a lot of this may be fast... but... there really isn't anyone I'd rather have by my side."
"I'd never seen myself as queen material," Karen chuckled.
"Well... as I said before, I'd tend to prefer the term "head lion" rather than king or queen," Peter answered, "because... even with constitutional monarchies in governments... the king or queen can be heavily involved in the government decision making and in more absolute style monarchies they do that even more. With werelions... things really aren't like that. Our prides in many ways work like werewolf packs. The pride male in each pride in general holds the same role that a werewolf Alpha would... though there can be multiple werelion males in a pride in coalition whereas a werewolf pack will only have ONE Alpha Male."
"Sort of like a real lion," Karen commented.
"Yeah," Peter answered, "the only time when my dad is really involved in dealing with issues between prides or with werelion decisions as a whole is when there is a tie in the votes between prides. He doesn't have the sort of raw authority that he could go between prides... that's something that's more present with the werefoxes and their Skulk."
The two began to walk quietly again, "but unlike a mundane lion with no concept of loyalty between male and female... a male werelion's love for his wife is always first. The polygamous nature that can be there in werelion prides is only there to keep the pride as a whole harmonious."
"And between the two of us?" Karen asked.
"You would always be the most important," Peter answered, "the ONLY one who would carry my cubs and within my pride... would hold authority equal to my own."
With that, the two of them kissed. Remembering Peter's defense of her and hearing his commentary on her always being the most important, Karen found herself quite willing. She'd prefer it to be only one, but she knew that she was going to be the most important in Peter's life. And as they kissed, she made her decision.
"I will be his lioness," Karen thought and let Peter lift her into the air a little as they kissed, "hopefully by tonight..."